from last deployment

these are from last deployment, just copying them here to have them all in one place.



Wednesday, October 21st, 2009


My love.
Another day of Forcepro, four hours of guard, then eight hours
off. It's pretty laidback, and is giving us a chance to get
rested up. The day shift is nice, 10am till 2pm, very sunny
and warm. The night shift, from 10pm till 2am, is bitterly
cold and we use a LOT of cold weather gear for it. Right now,
we have about 6 hours of nice hot weather every day, from 10
till 4. The other 18 hours are cold. No clouds, just clear and
hot or clear and cold. Small mercies, I know the white stuff
will come soon, but I am not eager to see it, no matter how
much safer it will make things.
More and more, the guys are thinking about home, finishing this
deployment, reenlisting or getting out, changing to a different
MOS (job in the army) or a different duty station. I think we
are all pretty excited to finish this tour. It's weird, though.
I miss you, and I miss the kids. There are a ton of fun things
in the states, and comfortable things. But I've learned to do
without fun, or comfort, nice as those things are. The only
reason I have to come home is you and the children. Without you
as the loadstone to pull my compass I would just stay here, and
not return to the states. Like the father in "the others", on
the front forever. "the war is over!" "the war is _not_ over".
I wonder if you will find me much changed? I doubt it. I think I
have always been as I am now, and I have simply shed a layer of
disguise. I love you. Utterly, completely. I kneel in the service
of my queen.
Until time ends. Until the sun goes out, and the world no longer
spins, and I crawl through the frozen dark to you.


If you and the children were not waiting for me, I'd just
ask them to stay here, but I'm glad to be coming home to you.


Later. Ate dinner. Sun's going down soon, it's cold already.
Got Halters computer working again. Oy, veii. Glad I could
do something to help him, he's a good friend.
Sometimes I feel really close to some of the guys here. Mostly,
I feel isolated from a lot of them. It's hard to write
coherent letters, hard to do much besides anaethetize myself
with movies and computer games, to withdraw into myself.


____________________________________


Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Still ok here.

Sunburnt, trying to get rid of my army tan in case we actually do come home.

Half brown half white is really stupid looking.

Hot as fuck in the day, cold as hell at night.

Went on a two day mission to back up the scouts in a valley that really needs

a base and a company of troops.

Our company was in time magazine, and on their website, but its pretty depressing.

IIRC, it goes "most isolated post in wardak province, ... hundred man element has

sustained twenty-six casualties, etc etc".

But I'm still ok, doing well, glad as fuck when I hear from the people back in the

states. Still cannot send outgoing mail, still have no phones or consistent internet,

still live in a tent. Finally got walls and a wooden floor for our tent, we're 

ecstatic. Still no laundry. They put in showers, but it's chemically treated well water,

so I'll just keep using baby wipes (parents choice brand rocks, btw).

Love and kisses and kittens and bullets.

______________________________________

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

Six weeks ago we moved to the Tangi Valley.

It was described by the sergeant major yesterday as "the worst place in

afghanistan"

The level of enemy activity here is insanely high.

We've gone on two missions in a row without any hostile activity.

Even when we chew them up, like we did maybe 10 days ago, or capture

a high ranking leader, like we did two weeks before that, they still

keep trying to kill us.

Mortars, IEDs, dismounted IEDs (targeting the guys on foot, they REALLY SUCK), sniper fire.

Guys keep getting hurt.

We don't have showers. Or phones. Or internet. Or laundry. Or wooden floors.

Or air conditioning. Or heaters. Or enough vehicles. Our incoming mail

arrives every couple of weeks. We do not have outgoing mail.

When we go to get a shower, check our email, and get good food, it means

going on a mission to do so. And that means we are risking our asses for a

shower.

Don't worry too much about it.

We have hot chow, warm blankets, we have pillows and electricity to run our laptops.

We have baby wipes to stay clean. I'm just tired. It's been a long month and a half.

As I mentioned above, we captured some important bad guys, and we chewed up some more

of them when they tried to attack us. We're working hard, doing what we came here to

do.

__________________________________

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

The past week.

Day one, big IED, Fanlo and galland are medivac'ed out.

Day three, big IED hits third platoon, one dead, three others wounded.

Day three continued, QRF rolls an MRAP while rushing to them, no-one hurt.

Day six, IED, one injured.

Day seven, we bag the head of Taliban in this area and three other VIPs.

Day eight (long week) they try an anti-personnel IED to target our guys on the ground.

Couple guys are shook up, but no casualties and we caught the sonofabitch who set it

off.

Long long week.

Average for the past month: three IEDs a day, and we find maybe 5 out of every 6,

give or take.

I'm ok, holding in there, staying safe, staying careful.

__________________________________________